The Shape of Things

February 23, 2020 at 11:00 am

In this Sunday’s service we hear the inspirational words of Maya Angelou and we also talk about Peeps. There’ll be music to soothe your heart and poetry to challenge your soul. Join us to answer the questions: What does it mean to be a resilient people in times of distress?

Resilience is a word I often see on Facebook, and on poster
board protest signs. It’s not usually just resilience, but RESILIENCE!

It’s a word that we think means to be tough, to hold fast,
to not back down from a fight, even when the fight is long, hard and though we
tend to believe in moral arc of the universe bending toward justice, we may be
wrong.

Not wrong about the arc of the universe, that famous quote
from the 19th Century Radical Unitarian minister Theodore Parker,
later adopted and adapted and made famous int eh 20th century by the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I fully believe what Parker wrote:

“I do not pretend to understand the
moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot
calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can
divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward
justice.”[1]

The conundrum this morning is about the meaning of
resilience.

We, especially those deeply and frequently engaged in social
justice work, love the world resilience, but a look at the dictionary says that
we may be using it incorrectly.

The dictionary defines resilience as: the power or ability
to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed,
or stretched; elasticity.[2]

I will admit, when I read this definition I was a little
troubled. I began to think of a thing that is resilient as a thing that is
immutable, a thing that will return to it’s original form. Immediately what
came to mind was the image of pyrite, more commonly known as Fool’s Gold. I
know it’s not a perfect parallel, but in my mind pyrite is a complex
crystalline structure, that has many sharp edges and these edges could and do
stand easily up to the rushing water.

It was the power of the original form that brought this
image to mind. Everyone knows that in a battle between stone and water, water
will eventually win. Because the stone will change it’s shape, it will be
changed.

But not the pyrite.

All of this got me to thinking, is resilience really the
thing we ought to be aiming for?

A couple of weeks ago the Strategic Planning Team reported
back to us what their findings were from dozens of dozens of interviews with
the congregation and our neighbors. One message that came out loud and clear
was our desire to grow.

Our need to grow as a congregation.

Back to the definition of resilience: the power or ability
to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed,
or stretched; elasticity.[3]

If we are resilient, if we have and celebrate our ability to
return to our original form, are we actually poised and ready to grow?

Because in order to grow, we must be willing to abandon our
current form, position, etc, because growth will not fit within that form.

You can’t put 2 cups of water into a 1 cup Pyrex measuring
cup. I know, because I’ve tried. In fact, in a 1 cup Pyrex cup, you can at most
squeeze 1.75 cups, and that’s if you fill it all the way to the tippy, tippy top.

I know this because for purposes of this illustration in
this sermon, I did a little experiment. In our house we have the 1 cupper, the
2 cupper and the 4 cupper by Pyrex.

In order to grow as a congregation, we must be willing to
embrace change, we need a larger container. I don’t really mean physically,
rather I mean that more metaphorically.

Often I sit in meetings with lay leaders, on the Board, in
the Worship Team, as part of the Racial Justice Leadership Team, and others,
and I hear the congregation talk about wanting to have a larger impact in our
part of the world.

I hear the desire to share deeper connections among and
between us.

I hear people speak about growth.

And all of these things are wonderful, obtainable, but they
don’t require resilience.

They require malleability. Definition, #2 which is
adaptability, not Definition #1 which is capable of being shaped, as by hammering
or pressing[4]

Let’s keep the hammering and pressing to a
minimum folks, shall we?

In order for this congregation to achieve its
own clearly stated and dearly held goal of growing this congregation, we are
going to have to embrace a spirit of exploration and expansive thinking.

We’re going to have to ask ourselves and each
other more questions that begin with “Why not try…?” and less statements of
“I’m not comfortable with….”

We cannot allow ourselves to be molded in the
manner of that little boy in Regina, Saskatchewan, so that we become square
inside, and stiff, just so that we can make others comfortable.

We must instead heed the advice of the great
poet Maya Angelou, now of beloved memory, and rise. If you’ll allow me to paraphse Dr. Angelou,

We must leave behind nights of terror and fearTo riseInto a daybreak that’s wondrously clearWe can rise.

I know that our nation is tired from the trauma of a dramatic
presidency. A presidency that seems designed to wear us down, and teach us the
hard and unhelpful lesson of learned helplessness. This we must resist, but not
remain resilient.

As proud members of the religious left, we have a job to do. We have to
demonstrate to the world that love is more powerful than bigotry. That even
when we are tired, we have enough energy to grow, to change, to allow our
beautiful theology of the worth of every person shine into every corner where
doubts is sewn and resides.

This year, as a counter to Donald Trump’s State of the Union address,
Logo, a cable channel originally created by and for the BGLTQ+ community,
released a video of Pose Star Billy Porter offering their speech “State of the
LGBTQ+ Nation.”

In their speech Porter touted the many accomplishments and advances the
queer community has made around world in spite of growing fascist regimes
around the world.

At the end of Porter’s speech, are the words I wish to use today to
close my sermon.

…Every act of kindness is a blow against crueltyEvery act of empathy is a blow against bigotryEvery act of courage is a blow against cowardly self interestAnd every act of love is a blow against hate.We may have a tough fight against us, but I know we can win it.We have no other choice than to win it.Remember that we have far more that connects us Than sets us apart.That we are all responsible for the country and world in which we want to liveAnd therefor we are all responsible for each other.So, Love one anotherTake care of one anotherAnd let’s secure the future for those who will inherit it.

In the words of the Great James Baldwin:Not everything that is faced can be changed,But nothing can be changed if it is not faced.

Let’s face the challenges of this new year And this new decade together.[5]

Benediction

In the face of challenges, in the face of those
who would have us constrict for their comfort, let us refuse to remain the
shape we used to be.

Let us refuse to be polite when interruption is needed.Let us refuse to be silent for the comfort of those who harm others.Let us refuse to accept the things that we can change.Let us face to future togetherWith love in our handsWith determination in our heartsWith gentleness in our minds.